Two thirds of French people agree with their labour minister's controversial claim that the country is a "totally bankrupt state".

Michel Sapin made the gaffe in a radio interview, which left French President Francois Hollande and other ministers racing to undo the potential damage to the country's reputation as a solid economy for investors.

On Monday, Mr Sapin said: "There is a state but it is a totally bankrupt state. That is why we had to put a deficit reduction plan in place, and nothing should make us turn away from that objective."

The comments came as Mr Hollande attempts to improve the image of the French economy after pledging to reduce the country's deficit by cutting spending by 60bn euros (£51.5bn) over the next five years and increasing taxes by 20bn euros.

It came as several high profile individuals, including the actor Gérard Depardieu, have left the country to avoid punitive taxes. Last week it transpired that Bernard Arnault, France's richest man, had transferred his entire fortune to Belgium, where he hopes to gain citizenship.

Pierre Moscovici, the finance minister, said the comments by Mr Sapin were "inappropriate". He added: "France is a really solvent country. France is a really credible country, France is a country that is starting to recover."

Chastened by the president, Mr Sapin later said the remark was taken out of context and was in fact a dig at his conservative predecessors, who he claimed had run the state coffers dry.

But it now transpires that a large majority of his fellow countrymen share Mr Sapin's view. In all 63 per cent agree that "in France, the state is bankrupt", with 45 per cent saying the claim was "more or less justified" and 17 per cent feeling it was "totally justified", according to a CSA poll for BFM TV.

France last balanced its budget in 1973. State spending accounts for almost 57 per cent of gross domestic product while public debt has now reached 91 per cent of GDP – some 28,000 euros per inhabitant.

The trade deficit hit a record high of 74 billion euros last year and unemployment has risen constantly over the past two years to above the three million mark.

That said, economists are adamant that technically the country is nowhere near being bankrupt.

"To be bankrupt means being incapable of paying one's debts," economist Nicolas Bouzou told Le Figaro. "That's not at all the case for the French state, which reimburses them without problem by refinancing at lending rates that are still low."

"The problem is that the minister is sending a negative signal to investors," he said.